PART I
DEFINITIONS AND EXCLUSIONS

(1) "Dealer" means a person engaged in the business of buying, selling or exchanging vehicles who is licensed under the provisions of chapter 246;

(2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles;

(3) "Identification number" means the vehicle identification number of a motor
vehicle, as defined in section 14-1;

(4) "Implement of husbandry" means a vehicle registered as a farm vehicle or a
vehicle designated and adapted exclusively for agricultural, horticultural or livestock-raising operations or for lifting or carrying an implement of husbandry;

(5) "Lienholder" means a person holding a security interest in a vehicle;

(6) "Owner" means a person, other than a lienholder, having the property in or title
to a vehicle. The term includes a person entitled to the use and possession of a vehicle
subject to a security interest in another person, but excludes a lessee under a lease not
intended as security;

(9) "Special mobile equipment" means a vehicle not designed for the transportation
of persons or property upon a highway and only incidentally operated or moved over a
highway, including, but not limited to, ditch-digging apparatus, well-boring apparatus
and road construction and maintenance machinery such as asphalt spreaders, bituminous
mixers, bucket loaders, street sweepers, tractors other than truck tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth moving
carry-alls and scrapers, power shovels and drag lines, and self-propelled cranes and
earth moving equipment. The term does not include house trailers, dump trucks, truck-mounted transit mixers, cranes or shovels, or other vehicles designed for the transportation of persons or property to which machinery has been attached;

(10) "State" means a state, territory or possession of the United States, the District
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a province of the Dominion of
Canada;

(11) "Vehicle" means a motor vehicle as defined by section 14-1;

(12) "Manufacturer's or importer's certificate of origin" means the original written
instrument or document required to be executed and delivered by the manufacturer to
the manufacturer's agent or dealer, or a person purchasing direct from the manufacturer,
certifying the origin of the vehicle;

(13) "Electronic title file" means the file maintained by the commissioner in an
electronic media format for the purpose of recording and storage of the evidence of a
lienholder's security interest in a vehicle; and

(14) "Special mobile agriculture vehicle" means a vehicle with an operator and
agriculture support materials, operated upon or across any public highway, incidentally,
in conjunction with the commercial operation of agriculture support. Commercial operation of agriculture support is limited to those services provided by a commercial entity
to the agriculture industry and shall be limited to the spreading or spraying of materials
to promote the growth of crops.

PART II
CERTIFICATE OF TITLE

Sec. 14-188. Release of security interest. (a) Upon the satisfaction of a security
interest in a vehicle for which the certificate of title is in the possession of the lienholder,
the lienholder shall, within ten days after demand and, in any event, within thirty days,
execute a release of the security interest, in the space provided therefor on the certificate
or as the commissioner prescribes, and mail or deliver the certificate and release to the
next lienholder named therein, or, if none, to the owner or any person who delivers to
the lienholder an authorization from the owner to receive the certificate. The commissioner may require such lienholder to electronically transmit to the Department of Motor
Vehicles a release of its security interest in a vehicle.

(b) If the security interest of the lienholder is maintained in the electronic title file
pursuant to subsection (b) of section 14-175, such lienholder shall, upon the satisfaction
of such security interest, execute a release of such security interest, and mail, deliver
or electronically transmit such release to the next lienholder or, if none, to the owner
or to any person who delivers or electronically transmits to the lienholder, an authorization from the owner to receive a certificate of title. Such release shall be provided in
not more than ten days and shall be in such form and manner, and contain such information necessary to evidence the release of the lien and to identify the motor vehicle and
the record of the certificate of title, as the commissioner may prescribe. The commissioner may require the lienholder to electronically transmit to the Department of Motor
Vehicles information pertaining to the release of a security interest in a vehicle.

(c) Upon the satisfaction of a security interest in a vehicle for which the certificate
of title is in the possession of a prior lienholder, the lienholder whose security interest
is satisfied shall within ten days after demand and, in any event, within thirty days
execute a release in the form the commissioner prescribes and deliver the release to the
owner or any person who delivers to the lienholder an authorization from the owner to
receive it, and shall deliver or electronically transmit such release to the prior lienholder.
The lienholder in possession of the certificate of title shall deliver the certificate to the
owner or the person authorized by the owner to receive such title. The commissioner
may require a subordinate lienholder to electronically transmit to the Department of
Motor Vehicles information pertaining to the release of its security interest in a motor
vehicle.

(d) A lienholder who does not comply with subsection (b) or (c) of this section and
who has disappeared and cannot be located by the debtor shall be deemed for purposes
of this section only to have released such security interest, if evidence satisfactory to
the commissioner is filed concerning the disappearance of the lienholder, and the commissioner shall so note on the records of the department.

History: 1967 act added Subsec. (c) re release of security interest; P.A. 02-70 made technical changes in Subsec. (a)
for purposes of gender neutrality, inserted new Subsec. (b) to require lienholder, upon satisfaction of security interest, to
notify commissioner within ten days of such satisfaction if the security interest of lienholder is maintained in electronic
title file pursuant to Sec. 14-175(b) and to provide for the form and manner of such notification, and redesignated existing
Subsecs. (b) and (c) as Subsecs. (c) and (d), making technical changes therein, effective July 1, 2002; P.A. 08-150 amended
Subsec. (b) to replace provisions requiring lienholder to notify commissioner within 10 days of satisfaction with provisions
requiring lienholder to execute release of security interest and mail, deliver or electronically transmit such release, in not
more than 10 days, to next lienholder or, if none, to owner or any person who delivers or electronically transmits to
lienholder an authorization from owner to receive a certificate of title, and amended Subsec. (d) to include lienholder who
does not comply with Subsec. (b); P.A. 11-213 amended Subsecs. (a) to (c) to delete requirements that documents be
mailed or delivered to commissioner and that commissioner release lienholder's rights or issue new certificate, and to
authorize commissioner to require lienholder to electronically transmit release, or information pertaining to release, to
department, effective July 1, 2011.